1898-1905 - He built and flew 11 dirigibles. With air traffic control restrictions still decades in the future, he would glide along Paris boulevards at rooftop level in one of his airships, commonly landing in front of a fashionable outdoor cafe for lunch.

1901 - During one of his attempts, his dirigible lost hydrogen gas and started to descend while he was piloting the dirigible and was unable to clear the roof of the Trocadero Hotel.

1904 - He went to the United States and was invited to the White House to meet US President Theodore Roosevelt.

1905 - He had finished his first airplane design, and also a helicopter.

1906 - Made the first public flight of an airplane in Paris in October.

- In November, he succeeded in setting the first world record in aviation by flying 220 meters in less than 22 seconds.

1911 - Moved from Paris to the French seaside village of Bénerville where he took up astronomy as a hobby.

1928 - He left France to go back to his country of birth, never to return to Europe.

1932 - Seriously ill, and sad to be depressed over his multiple sclerosis and the use of aircraft in warfare, he is believed to have committed suicide by hanging himself in the city of Guarujá in São Paulo on the 23rd of July.